The Gospel of John is the most read book in the Bible and Nicodemus is one of its pivotal characters.Nicodemus was a close disciple of Jesus for years and as a Ruler of the Jews in Jerusalem, there was very little Nicodemus did not know about Jesus. But in the same Gospel of John we are challenged by an enigma- the record of an event so astonishing that for centuries it has been disregarded or explained away by those who fear its implications.
The occasion, as recorded in The Gospel of John, ch7, 40-52, was that of the meeting of the Chief Priests, Pharisees and people of Jerusalem about six months prior to the Crucifixion when they were debating as to whether Jesus could be the forecasted Messiah and King of Israel. It is clear from the text that none of them had ever heard of Jesus having been born in Bethlehem in Judea, as was expected of any Messiah, and that therefore Jesus must be an imposter.
Also in attendance was Nicodemus himself, but rather than of insisting that Jesus WAS born in Bethlehem, it is apparent that like everybody else Nicodemus knew that Nazareth in Galilee was the Jesus' place of birth, even staying silent when taunted by the Pharisees to try to find any documents that foretold that the Messiah, known also as the Christ and the Prophet, would come from that very village.
How was it possible for Nicodemus and everyone in Jerusalem not to have known where Jesus was born, the scene of the Nativity events in Bethlehem being only five miles away and Jesus having been continually questioned wherever he went?We ask ourselves- is it possible that the Nativity stories as we understand them, which are included in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, could have been compiled much later and edited into the Gospel accounts to make them more appealing?
‘The Epistle of Nicodemus’ sheds light the unanswered questions…
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